30 January 2024
Savannah Resources
Plc
(AIM: SAV, FWB: SAV and SWB:
SAV) ('Savannah', or the
'Company')
Continued Progress on Key
Project Workstreams
Savannah Resources Plc, the
developer of the Barroso Lithium Project (the 'Project') in
Portugal, Europe's largest spodumene lithium deposit, is pleased to
provide an update on a number of workstreams as it continues to
advance the Project.
Strategic Partnering Process:
·
The process is moving forward as expected, with
good levels of interest sustained from groups located along the
battery value chain.
Definitive Feasibility Study ('DFS'):
·
Schedule: Savannah still expects to complete the
DFS in H2 2024.
·
Recent drilling and design work
includes:
o As
of 23 January, Savannah has completed a total of 2,531m of reverse
circulation and diamond drilling across 40 holes in the first of
the two phases planned in the current programme.
o The
drilling programme is focused on providing data for infilling and
upgrading the Project's existing JORC (2012) compliant Resource and
for geotechnical studies.
o All
9 of the planned hydrogeology boreholes have also been
completed.
o Despite some delays in receiving assay results from third
party laboratories, the Company still expects to begin publishing
results from the drilling and updating the JORC Resource estimates
on a deposit by deposit basis later this quarter.
o Savannah's team and its consultants are continuing to develop
final designs for the Project's working areas, processing plant and
infrastructure.
Environmental Licencing:
·
Schedule: Savannah still expects to complete the
studies, works and adaptations required to confirm compliance with
all elements of the DIA in H2 2024.
·
Hydrogeology: Along with the necessary drilling,
all surveys related to the hydrogeological study have been
completed, and the modelling is underway.
·
Flora & Fauna: The second seasonal survey has
been carried out successfully.
·
Formal consultation with Entities: As part of the
RECAPE process, Savannah has launched the process of formal
consultation with entities which either manage the area (e.g. the
Boticas municipal council), or operate other
projects/infrastructure in the area, such as ERedes which manages
the national electrical grid. The consultation is for information
sharing and to identify any features or structures which will need
mutual consideration in the future.
Recruitment:
·
Mr Thomas Gaultier has joined the Company as
Community Relations Manager. As an esteemed independent mediator
and a lawyer, Thomas brings a wealth of experience to this role and
our team. His expertise extends to teaching mediation and
negotiation in law schools throughout Portugal, and to practicing
it in various scenarios associated with mines, mostly in
Africa.
·
We have also further increased our staffing from
the local community with two new local recruits assisting the field
team.
·
We look forward to welcoming a highly experienced
Portuguese Communications Manager to the team on 1 February 2024
and attracting more talent as we continue to develop the Project
towards construction and production.
Stakeholder engagement:
·
The land acquisition process is continuing with
the acquisition of a plot of over 5 hectares completed recently.
Savannah is approaching the milestone of 100 plots purchased from
local landowners.
·
The analysis of the data collected in the 400
interviews conducted by Community Insights Group is continuing. The
takeaways from this will allow us to better understand community
dynamics and interests, as well as fine-tune our strategy to
approaching the various local community needs. They will also be
decisive in further developing the Project's Stakeholder Engagement
Plan.
·
New, more positive bonds and relationships are
being created, and the Savannah team is welcomed by a growing
portion of locals. As highlighted above, the group of Barroso and
Boticas residents in the Savannah team is also growing.
·
Meetings and presentations were held with a wide
range of local stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement is now a front
of continuous activity for the team.
·
Another edition of the Barroso Lithium Community
Newspaper was released and sent to approximately 4,000 households
in the region.
Investor Relations:
·
An investor event is being held in London later
today (Tuesday 30th January 2024). A video of the event will be
made available online.
·
A new corporate presentation will be available
today for download from the Company's website at
https://www.savannahresources.com/investors/presentations/
Savannah's Chief Executive Officer, Emanuel Proença
said, "The Strategic Partnering
process is progressing well, with a group of tier one companies
from across the battery value chain engaged and undertaking due
diligence.
"Back on the ground, the Savannah
team and our consultants have been pressing ahead with key
workstreams following a short Christmas break and we remain on
track with the schedules we have set.
"We also continue to engage actively
with the key stakeholders groups in the local area and
remain committed to addressing any doubts and
fears that persist about the Project among local communities.
We feel that local
sentiment is quite different from the perception still being shared
through the media.
"2024 is set to be a very important
year for the Company with critical news flow expected. The
team and I are looking forward to providing further updates and
delivering on the milestones we have set ourselves."
Regulatory Information
This Announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of the UK version of the market abuse
regulation (EU No. 596/2014) as it forms part of United Kingdom
domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
("UK MAR").
Savannah - Enabling Europe's energy
transition.
**ENDS**
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@SavannahRes on X
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Savannah Resources on LinkedIn
For further information please
visit www.savannahresources.com
or contact:
Savannah Resources PLC
Emanuel Proença, CEO
|
Tel: +44 20 7117 2489
|
SP
Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Advisor & Joint
Broker)
David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat
(Corporate Finance)
Grant Barker/Abigail Wayne (Sales
& Broking)
|
Tel: +44 20 3470 0470
|
SCP
Resource Finance (Joint Broker)
Filipe Martins/Chris
Tonkin
|
Tel: +44 204 548 1765
|
Camarco (Financial PR)
Gordon Poole/ Emily Hall / Fergus
Young
|
Tel: +44 20 3757 4980
|
LPM
(Portugal Media Relations)
Herminio Santos/ Jorge
Coelho
|
Tel: +351 218 508 110
|
About Savannah
Savannah Resources is a mineral
resource development company and the sole owner of the Barroso
Lithium Project in northern Portugal, the largest battery grade
spodumene lithium resource outlined to date in Europe.
Through the Barroso Lithium Project
(the 'Project'), Savannah will help Portugal to play an important
role in providing a long-term, locally sourced, lithium raw
material supply for Europe's rapidly developing lithium battery
value chain. After the Environmental Licence was granted in May
2023 and the Scoping Study confirmed the economic potential of the
Project in June 2023, production is now targeted and on track to
begin in 2026. At that stage, Savannah will start producing enough
lithium for approximately half a million vehicle battery packs per
year, equal to a significant portion of the European Commission's
Critical Raw Material Act goal of a minimum 10% of European
endogenous lithium production set for 2030. Savannah is focused on
the responsible development and operation of the Barroso Lithium
Project so that its impact on the environment is minimised and the
socio-economic benefits that it can bring to all its stakeholders
are maximised.
The Company is listed and regulated
on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
and the Company's ordinary shares are also available on the
Quotation Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) under the
symbol FWB: SAV, and the Börse Stuttgart (SWB) under the ticker
"SAV".